Synopsis: Three years of real time and a
decade in screen time , has passed since the last ‘Rise of the Planet of the
Apes’ and the surviving genetically advanced primates and their human
counterparts are both now fighting to hold on to their territory after a viral
outbreak has reduced both populations to a few thousands..or that’s what we are
given to understand!

Review:

Slowly and steadily the series storyline is veering towards the
complete takeover of the Earth by the genetically engineered primates/ This
sequel is just a step closer to that end. A quicj-fire montage reflects on the
dire disease driven apocalypse that has enveloped the world. The human survivors have cobbled together a reasonably stable
society in the ruins of San Francisco, with Dreyfuss(Gary Oldman)in charge. They are fast running out of
power and must soon find an energy source before the society begins to crumble
under the weight of it’s own survivalist expectations. A team led by
Malcolm(Clarke)sets out in search of a dam that once supplied hydro-power to
the city. And while on that track they come across a band of apes. A volatile
member from the team shoots at it which in turn causes the huge outcry among
the apes and the team is dragged to the leader of the apes for a pronouncement.
Caesar, the leader is a peace loving, human loving primate and prefers to learn
the reasons foe what happened before passing judgement. He learns of the
humans’ desperation and allows them to seek out the dam under primate
supervision.

Across the battered Golden Gate Bridge, in Marin County, the
primates have built their own civilization. In contrast to the bedraggled human
colony, the ape encampment is a thriving, sprawling encampment which appears
far more civilized and humanistic. It has distinctive wooden architecture,
domesticated horses, a sophisticated (mostly signed) language and an
educational system overseen by Maurice, the gentle, copper-furred orangutan-
who we saw in the first movie of the series.

The scarred and scared humans on receiving the news of the
primates existence decide to prepare for war. They have a goldmine of
ammunition to support their cause. On the primates side, there is a power
hungry betrayer seeking to usurp Caesar. So a misunderstanding sets in motion a
face-off between man and primate that could end in annihilation of either. Standing
in between the two antagonistic sides are the more stable liberals on either
side. The war begins and a spectacular mind-blowing action sequence ensues.
There is loss of course-on both sides of
the divide. And the war continues. To know more on that future we obviously
have to look forward to the next in the series.

This film is technically impressive and viscerally exciting and
the conflicts at it’s core are thought-provoking- echoing the man versus nature
conflicts of today. The performances, if one can call it that, are
mind-blowing. The merge between computer technology generated Simian
expressivenes and human facial evocation
is so perfect that it’s difficult to separate the two. Weta Digital has
digitally aided that brillaiantly too. Andy Serkis is perfect as Caesar, and so
are the other ape performers- Karin Konoval (Maurice); Nick Thurston (Caesar’s
son Blue Eyes); Judy Greer (Caesar’s wife, Cornelia); and especiallyToby Kebbellas Koba, Caesar’s lieutenant and
eventual nemesis. The human performances though competent don’t stand out as
much. And that’s a good thing. After all
this film does seem to favor the apes over humans.

The sylvan, simian city is majestic. The rest of the visual
effects are also seamlessly crafted into the narrative. The script by Rick
Jaffa, Amanda Silver and Mark Bomback, is structured to draw out your pleasure
till the very end. The tone is darker than the earlier edition, and is
broodingly beautiful in it’s envelopment. That experience is intensified by Michael
Giacchino’s background score and verdant depth of Michael Seresin’s cinematography.
Matt Reeves fine sense of visual detail adds more weight to the enticement.